Re: [PATCH] docs/system: Document running Linux on amigaone machine

[BALATON Zoltan <balaton@eik.bme.hu>]

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On Tue, 2 Jan 2024, Bernhard Beschow wrote:
> Am 16. Dezember 2023 21:15:54 UTC schrieb BALATON Zoltan <balaton@eik.bme.hu>:
>> On Sat, 16 Dec 2023, Bernhard Beschow wrote:
>>> Am 16. Dezember 2023 12:53:55 UTC schrieb BALATON Zoltan <balaton@eik.bme.hu>:
>>>> On Sat, 16 Dec 2023, Bernhard Beschow wrote:
>>>>> Documentation on how to run Linux on the amigaone machine is currently burried
>>>>> in the depths of the qemu-devel mailing list [1] and in the source code. Let's
>>>>> collect the information in the QEMU handbook for a one stop solution.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for collecting this info and adding it as documentation.
>>>
>>> You're welcome!
>>>
>>>> A few small comments bellow.
>>>>
>>>>> [1] https://lore.kernel.org/qemu-devel/dafc407d-3749-e6f4-3a66-750fde8965f9@eik.bme.hu/
>>>>
>>>> Do we want to keep an URL in the commit log? kernel.org is quite stable but not sure it would need to be in the commit message.
>>>
>>> Let's drop it.
>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Co-authored-by: BALATON Zoltan <balaton@eik.bme.hu>
>>>>> Signed-off-by: Bernhard Beschow <shentey@gmail.com>
>>>>> ---
>>>>> MAINTAINERS                  |  1 +
>>>>> docs/system/ppc/amigaone.rst | 53 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>>>> docs/system/target-ppc.rst   |  1 +
>>>>> hw/ppc/amigaone.c            |  9 ------
>>>>> 4 files changed, 55 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
>>>>> create mode 100644 docs/system/ppc/amigaone.rst
>>>>>
>>>>> diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
>>>>> index 695e0bd34f..a2dd1407e2 100644
>>>>> --- a/MAINTAINERS
>>>>> +++ b/MAINTAINERS
>>>>> @@ -1560,6 +1560,7 @@ amigaone
>>>>> M: BALATON Zoltan <balaton@eik.bme.hu>
>>>>> L: qemu-ppc@nongnu.org
>>>>> S: Maintained
>>>>> +F: docs/system/ppc/amigaone.rst
>>>>> F: hw/ppc/amigaone.c
>>>>> F: hw/pci-host/articia.c
>>>>> F: include/hw/pci-host/articia.h
>>>>> diff --git a/docs/system/ppc/amigaone.rst b/docs/system/ppc/amigaone.rst
>>>>> new file mode 100644
>>>>> index 0000000000..c3f11a7bb2
>>>>> --- /dev/null
>>>>> +++ b/docs/system/ppc/amigaone.rst
>>>>
>>>> Maybe call it amigang.rst so it can be a place for docs on other PPC AmigaNG machines such as pegasos2 and sam460ex in the future to collect them in one place.
>>>
>>> Having everything in one place seems like creating a lot of complexity if one were to elaborate on the various pros and cons for each machine: AmigaOne needs a custom vgabios, the others do not.
>>
>> All of these need real mode VGA BIOS as the BIOS emulator in all three machines choke on the gcc compiled QEMU VGA BIOS so this isn't uinque to amigaone.
>>
>>> MorpOS can be run on the other machines but not on AmigaOne. Sometimes a bootloader is needed and sometimes not, the circumstances may vary.
>>
>> MorphOS does not support amigaone, boot loader is optional and alternative to using firmware.
>>
>> Other docs seem to combine similar machines like powermac and embedded and ppce500 in a single doc file so the convention seems to not have one file for each machine but it's not a big deal.
>>
>>> I suggest to have a separate doc on each machine.
>>
>> I could also rename it later if more docs is added for other machines.
>>
>>>>> @@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
>>>>> +Eyetech AmigaOne/Mai Logic Teron (``amigaone``)
>>>>> +===============================================
>>>>> +
>>>>> +The ``amigaone`` model emulates an AmigaOne XE mainboard developed by Eyetech. Use
>>>>> +the executable ``qemu-system-ppc`` to simulate a complete system.
>>>>
>>>> QEMU is not a simulator so even if that's repeating this should say emulate. (Should this doc be formatted with 80 chars line too like sources?)
>>>
>>> I took heavy inspiration from the cupieboard machine. Feel free to change.
>>
>> docs/system/arm/cubieboard.rst:
>> "The ``cubieboard`` model emulates the Cubietech Cubieboard,"
>> also says emulate not simulate.
>>
>>>>> +
>>>>> +Emulated devices
>>>>> +----------------
>>>>> +
>>>>> + *  PowerPC 7457 v1.2 CPU
>>>>> + *  Articia S north bridge
>>>>> + *  VT82C686B south bridge
>>>>> + *  PCI VGA compatible card
>>>>> +
>>>>> +
>>>>> +Preparation
>>>>> +-----------
>>>>> +
>>>>> +A firmware binary is necessary for the boot process and is available at
>>>>> +https://www.hyperion-entertainment.com/index.php/downloads?view=files&parent=28.
>>>>> +It needs to be extracted with the following command:
>>>>> +
>>>>> +.. code-block:: bash
>>>>> +
>>>>> +  $ tail -c 524288 updater.image > u-boot-amigaone.bin
>>>>> +
>>>>> +The firmware binary is unable to run QEMU‘s standard vgabios and
>>>>> +``VGABIOS-lgpl-latest.bin`` is needed instead. It can be downloaded from
>>>>> +http://www.nongnu.org/vgabios.
>>>>> +
>>>>> +
>>>>> +Running Linux
>>>>> +-------------
>>>>> +
>>>>> +There are some Linux images under the following link that work on the
>>>>> +``amigaone`` machine:
>>>>> +https://sourceforge.net/projects/amigaone-linux/files/debian-installer/. To boot
>>>>> +the system run:
>>>>> +
>>>>> +.. code-block:: bash
>>>>> +
>>>>> +  $ qemu-system-ppc -M amigaone -bios u-boot-amigaone.bin \
>>>>> +                    -cdrom "A1 Linux Net Installer.iso" \
>>>>> +                    -device ati-vga,model=rv100,romfile=VGABIOS-lgpl-latest.bin
>>>>> +
>>>>> +From the firmware menu that appears select ``Boot sequence`` →
>>>>> +``Amiga Multiboot Options`` and set ``Boot device 1`` to
>>>>> +``Onboard VIA IDE CDROM``. Then hit escape until the main screen appears again,
>>>>> +hit escape once more and from the exit menu that appears select either
>>>>> +``Save settings and exit`` or ``Use settings for this session only``. It may
>>>>> +take a long time loading the kernel into memory but eventually it boots and the
>>>>> +installer becomes visible.
>>>>> diff --git a/docs/system/target-ppc.rst b/docs/system/target-ppc.rst
>>>>> index 4f6eb93b17..c1daa463cf 100644
>>>>> --- a/docs/system/target-ppc.rst
>>>>> +++ b/docs/system/target-ppc.rst
>>>>> @@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ help``.
>>>>>    :maxdepth: 1
>>>>>
>>>>>    ppc/embedded
>>>>> +   ppc/amigaone
>>>>>    ppc/powermac
>>>>>    ppc/powernv
>>>>>    ppc/ppce500
>>>>> diff --git a/hw/ppc/amigaone.c b/hw/ppc/amigaone.c
>>>>> index ddfa09457a..4f680a5bdd 100644
>>>>> --- a/hw/ppc/amigaone.c
>>>>> +++ b/hw/ppc/amigaone.c
>>>>> @@ -27,15 +27,6 @@
>>>>>
>>>>> #define BUS_FREQ_HZ 100000000
>>>>>
>>>>> -/*
>>>>> - * Firmware binary available at
>>>>> - * https://www.hyperion-entertainment.com/index.php/downloads?view=files&parent=28
>>>>> - * then "tail -c 524288 updater.image >u-boot-amigaone.bin"
>>>>> - *
>>>>> - * BIOS emulator in firmware cannot run QEMU vgabios and hangs on it, use
>>>>> - * -device VGA,romfile=VGABIOS-lgpl-latest.bin
>>>>> - * from http://www.nongnu.org/vgabios/ instead.
>>>>> - */
>>>>
>>>> Maybe it's worth keeping the comment here in case somebody reads the source but not documentation.
>>>
>>> Maybe change the comment to point at the doc to avoid duplication?
>>
>> That could work too.
>>
>>>> Do you want to send a v2 or want me to take over and do it myself?
>>>
>>> Sure, feel free to take over!
>>
>> OK, I'll try to make a v2 then.
>
> Ping

I've started it but then did not have time to finish yet but not 
forgotten, will do it eventually. I also want to add info on other 
machines so we'll have this in one place.

Regards,
BALATON Zoltan